Beanie Wells Injured in First Game

Just like last year when Youngstown State came to town for a meaningless scrimmage with the Buckeyes and Lawrence Wilson was lost for the season, Chris Wells went down in the third quarter yesterday against the Penguins.

By Steve Patterson

Stumble and Fumble

Chris Wells was on his way to a second touchdown and eliminating from his memory the poor performance he had last year in the opener when he lost the ball close to the goal line and couldn't get off the turf afterwards. His right foot was possibly broken it appeared at the time. Wells rushed for 111 yards total during the game before the injury including a 43 yard run on fourth and one for a touchdown.

Wilson Crushed

Of course Ohio State went on to win the game anyway in a very convincing fashion, but the loss of Wells could damage their National Championship hopes. “When I went out there to check on him, I told him to relax and take a breath.” Lawrence Wilson said, who broke his leg last year against Youngstown in the opener. “I was crushed to see that kind of player go down, but I have a lot of confidence that he will be back. He's one of those guys who is hungry and wants to play.”

Tressel Optimistic

Coach Tressel discussed after the game that the injury could be any range of possibilities. With X-rays being negative on the foot for a broken bone, Tressel felt the injury could be a sprain to turf toe. Turf toe could linger for the rest of the season where a sprain could be better by the beginning of Big Ten play.

“You never know how those things are,” Coach Tressel said. “Sometimes, all of a sudden that adrenaline rush hits and its, 'Hey, I'm not injured as bad as maybe I was afraid I was,'” Tressel said about Wells playing against Ohio next week. “If he can't practice, obviously we wouldn't use him.”